Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

Series I. Films, 1968-2005

The bulk of the De Niro Papers are located in this series and comprise materials from sixty-nine films dating from De Niro’s 1968 film Greetings through Hide and Seek released in 2005. Additional materials for more recent projects are expected and will be made available at a future date, along with considerable material for A Bronx Tale (1993). Materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by film title, and subsequently items for each film are consistently arranged in this order: screenplays first, followed by production, publicity, and research materials.

Screenplays

Screenplays are heavily represented in the collection and are present for all of De Niro’s acting roles. The number of screenplays present for each film varies from film to film, but most are represented by multiple versions. For example, Meet the Fockers has thirty-five scripts written steadily over the course of three years, while Raging Bull has twenty scripts that evolved intermittently from conception to completion over a span of about ten years.

Modern screenplays are notorious for their variant titles, multiple writers, and numerous re-writes, and the De Niro scripts are no exception. Working with information provided on the title pages and dated revisions, multiple scripts for individual films have been arranged in their probable order of creation, although undated scripts and inserted revisions make definitive sequencing difficult. The films Analyze This and Meet the Fockers provide good examples of a complex array of scripts with more than a dozen writers and derivative drafts.

Descriptions of individual scripts in the following folder list are often limited to the date of the original script and, for subsequent revisions, the date last revised. Variant titles, draft numbers or other draft identifications (e.g., "final shooting script"), and writer names are also included if present. The descriptions frequently also include either "with RDN notes" or "no RDN notes." De Niro’s handwritten annotation of scripts is a hallmark of his working method; rendered in ink, these annotations are primarily dialogue and script changes and notes regarding his role.

Shooting scripts are present for most of the films. In most cases, the shooting scripts designated in the finding aid are the ones De Niro used during filming. They are heavily annotated with De Niro’s handwritten notes and are often bound in three-ring binders full of inserted script revisions and production material. The Raging Bull shooting script contained a particularly large amount of inserted material; in order to preserve it and also retain its original order, a facsimile copy was created and is available for research use.

Production materials

The production materials in the De Niro Papers reflect the myriad tasks involved in film-making. While nearly all the De Niro films contain some production materials, their type and quantity varies from film to film. Among the types of items present are ADR (automated dialogue replacement) sheets, call sheets, casting lists and résumés, contact and crew lists, dialogue notes, one-liner and shooting schedules, continuity and make-up photographs, production reports, production stills, recruited audience preview reports, storyboards, De Niro’s handwritten notes, production-related memos and correspondence, congratulatory correspondence, and wardrobe continuity and inventory lists. Several films also include original costume, tattoo, and set designs, as well as location photography.

Photographs dominate the production materials in terms of sheer volume and include hair/make-up, wardrobe, and production stills. The prints are largely in 4x6-inch and Polaroid formats, but also include 8x10-inch and oversize. Prints have been arranged by roll number and sleeved in frame order. Frame order is especially critical for documenting make-up application, as evidenced by more than 3,000 prints for Frankenstein. For this film, De Niro endured a full-body plaster cast used to create a body suit that transformed him into "The Creature." Shot by shot, the photographs document the painstaking 16-hour make-up sessions, capturing the intricate application of face, hair, and body prosthetics in incredible detail. The Polaroids are primarily make-up and wardrobe continuity prints and are often marked with scene numbers and other pertinent information. In some cases, metal rings or safety pins were used for portability on the set and to retain scene sequence. For the film Awakenings, 135 continuity Polaroids on a single ring record the state of De Niro’s hair and beard for each scene, to guarantee continuity over multiple takes and reshoots.

Wardrobe continuity material is present for more than a dozen films, ranging from a few sheets to binders with up to seventy pages. Typically, wardrobe items were listed in detail on specially-formatted sheets and supplemented with Polaroids showing De Niro in costume, as well as individual items such as shoes and jewelry. Because overlapping Polaroids were often taped onto the wardrobe sheets and presented a handling problem, facsimiles were made of all the wardrobe continuity material in the collection.

Publicity materials

This category of film material is the least prevalent in this series, and the amount and type varies from film to film. Publicity materials include advertising graphics and layouts, articles and reviews, award nomination certificates, correspondence and memos, marketing and promotional materials, posters, premiere programs and tickets, press kits, press junket itineraries, press releases, publicity and studio stills, screening cards and invitations, and tour information.

Research material

De Niro is well known for thoroughly researching and preparing for his acting roles. In addition to articles, pamphlets, chapter sections, and other printed material, the collection includes 266 books used for research on topics ranging from mobsters and tattoos to Jesuits and baseball. For each film, the books are arranged by author and title within the research section and each book was assigned a BV (bound volume) number. Some of these books are inscribed to De Niro and De Niro also annotated many of the volumes with handwritten notes. Many of the books originally contained loose items; these items have been withdrawn and placed into folders. Withdrawals from bound volumes are denoted with an asterisk in the folder list. Research material for Cape Fear and The Mission is particularly extensive.

Some correspondence and production memoranda are scattered throughout Series I. and selected correspondents appear in the Index of Selected Correspondents included in this finding aid.

Series II. De Niro Projects, 1960s-2003

Throughout De Niro’s long career, a great quantity of script material has come his way for consideration. The plays, screenplays, and television scripts in this series are some of the projects that held De Niro’s interest although, for a variety of reasons, his involvement remained limited. The projects material has been arranged alphabetically by title. The majority of works include writers and directors with whom De Niro has long been closely associated, such as Michael Cimino, Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, George Gallo, Michael V. Gazzo, William Goldman, Elia Kazan, Robert Kuhn, David Mamet, Michael Powell, Richard Price, Paul Schrader, Martin Scorsese, and David Seltzer. Notable television and film projects in this series include Apocalypse Now, A Bridge Too Far, Gangs of New York, Glengarry Glen Ross, Hoffa, The Last Temptation of Christ, Rule #3, Street Kings, and Weeds.

Series III. Early Career and Career-Related, 1960s-2000

This series contains articles about De Niro, books retained for general research and received as gifts, early contracts, correspondence, and photographs. Also included is material related to public appearances, tributes, and film series.

Much of the correspondence in the collection is located in this series, often congratulatory in nature or related to shared projects. Correspondents include friends and industry colleagues, such as Giorgio Armani, Lauren Bacall, Robert Bolt, Kenneth Branagh, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Cimino, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Barry Diller, Richard Dreyfuss, Dominick Dunne, Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hayden, Israel Horovitz, Ron Howard, Roland Joffé, Garson Kanin, Elia Kazan, Harvey Keitel, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Martin Landau, George Lucas, David Mamet, Marsha Mason, Al Pacino, Joseph Papp, Jane Pauley, Harold Pinter, Richard Pryor, Cliff Robertson, Oliver Sacks, Martin Scorsese, Gene Shalit, Steven Spielberg, Sharon Stone, Lee Strasberg, Emma Thompson, Jack Valenti, Harvey Weinstein, Robin Williams, Henry Winkler, Shelley Winters, and Franco Zeffirelli, among others. An index of all correspondent names in this series is included in this finding aid.

Photographs occupy a large portion of this series and contain significant images from the early days of De Niro’s career. De Niro created his own résumé head shots, the earliest of which lists his acting experience through 1963. This series of photographs ends in the early 1970s with the appearance of studio publicity stills for films such as Bloody Mama and Mean Streets. The résumés attached to many of the head shots, some with four different images per print, provide valuable information regarding De Niro’s stage performances that date from his days in training with The Dramatic Workshop, Luther James Studio, Stella Adler Theatre Studio, and Raphael Kelly. These résumés include the parts he played in repertory theater, tours, commercials, performances at Hunter College and Sarah Lawrence College, the off-Broadway shows, and early films including Greetings and The Wedding Party. Often play reviews are also attached to the head shots. In addition, there are programs and production photographs for many of these early plays. Titles include The Boor, Generation, Glamour, Glory & Gold, Kool Aid, One Night Stands of a Noisy Passenger, Tchin-Tchin, and The World of Günter Grass.

Series I. Films, 1968-2005